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Make iWeb site More Dynamic / More Motion?

Christopher11

Christopher11

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 10, 2007
707
66
I have a site i built with iWeb, put some time into it, and I seem to be driving some traffic there with my writing and music. I don't use .mac for my hosting; I use Dreamhost, so some of the features are unavailable to me.

My issue is, I'm unhappy with the static nature of the website... especially the home page. Is there a piece of software that can "plug in" to iWeb and allow me to have a more evolving, shifting kind of page? Something like a slide show, but not necessarily that... just something that will give me a bit more elegant and less static feel.

http://www.sade.com/

I like what they've done with Sade's website for example... but don't worry, i don't expect to get results that professional.

Thanks very much for any replies.
 
Those dynamic/animated sites are created in Flash, you will need a version of adobe flash professional if you want to create something along those lines. Although, there are mixed feelings about creating a site solely in flash as it creates accessibility issues/large download times.

-Sam
 
Having dynamic aspects generally involves using server side languages, which is beyond iWeb's scope. iWeb is meant to be simple, both in terms of usage and ability. You can do some fancy things with JavaScript if you know what you're doing, but for the most part iWeb is for a static site. If you want more, then move away from iWeb.

If there's specific things you want to know how (if possible) to do in iWeb, then give those examples, but just asking about dynamic stuff is too general.
 
interactive iWeb design

I tried to achieve the general concept you're asking about when using iWeb. As far as I understand only "movement' you can get would involve video and/or animation and presented in Quicktime.

I tried using Keynote to generate such an animation for incorporation in , but I was disappointed. It seems that there just isn't sufficient control over the speed of presentation over the web on various browsers, systems, etc.

I think the best you're going to do will be to keep the design relatively simple with some strong colors and shapes making use of the ability of iWeb to link to others pages and focus on making it compelling through its content and the ability of the viewer to interact with the site.

While the Sade website has very nice motion graphics, I think there's a tendency for people to treat it more like television and become passive viewers. The potential benefit of using iWeb is focusing on the interactive participatory aspects. Clearly presenting music vs. photography vs. design services vs. other subjects will each require their own approach.

Here are some examples of sites involving simple interactions that I've created for my photographs and design work.

Good luck!
 
@OP:

Here is what you can do, in addition to what was already stated:

DHTML (which is basically HTML, Javascript, CSS and DOM standards)
Javascript frameworks, i.e. JQuery, Mootools, Lightbox2

These are all open source and client side coded, everything from fancy slideshows, galleries popup effects, Ajax (write in place only) and dynamic style sheets and cosmetic enhancements. These can be added via the latest iWeb's inspector -> HTML snippets using inline styling and script tags.

If money is no option and you want to do any of the above (plus other built in features) via the familiar iWeb WYSIWYG GUI and drag/drop, then look into iWeb Enhancer 1.7. But I'll be honest, you can do the same darned thing through inspector with a few more steps, so consider this the lazy man's option who solves problems with cash instead of "effort". heh.

-jim
 
expanding iWeb's capabilities

Thanks very much for the useful feedback. Are you saying that the DHTML, Javascript, MooTools, and Lightbox tools are free and open source? And that the iWeb Enhancer does the same things, but saves a few steps?
 
All the frameworks and Javascript core is free/open source. Sometimes users who post plugins for some of the frameworks ask for Paypal donations of a few dollars, but that's rare. It's almost always free, licenses are traditionally MIT or GPL.

iWeb Enhancer is not free, and if you take the time to learn a little basic Javascript, save yourself some money and use the other methods manually. Use the DHTML link I provided above for a tutorial to get you started.

-jim
 
thank you

Thanks for the information on enhancing iWeb's capabilities. It's interesting that when I spoke with a reasonably saavy Apple representative, they were very clear in stating that such effects could not be achieved through iWeb. I guess she wasn't so saavy after all (even if she was being promoted from a suburban Saint Louis Apple Store to one in Cupertino.
 
iWeb is a simple Web site builder

Robust, though, iWeb is not. Replacing the favicon image and re-inserting the favicon code and into <head> after every blog entry I don't bother with anymore. "Follow me on Twitter" has a link to my twitter page; forget widgets. They slow the loading of the page. RSS feeds don't function properly, so I don't bother adding the button, and I just don't feel confident putting too much on my iWeb site.

A simple and clean Web site I have built, regardless of it limitations. :)

A couple years devoted to learning how to build better Web pages would be rewarding and time well spent if you want more utility. Or opt for iWeb to create something simple. Depends on individual needs I suppose.
 
Remiss63 said:
Here are some examples of sites involving simple interactions that I've created for my photographs and design work.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Thank you Remiss63! You made some really good philosophical points as well as practical, and looking at your websites i think you backed them up. Your stuff looks great by the way; i love it. Yeah, if i can make it that attractive i think i could live with it.
 
thanks, glad you like 'em

Glad you like the sites I created. I'm sure I most likely spent more time on creating and tweeking them than was justified, but I rationalized it as being a learning experiment. I'm a perfectionist, so it's virtually impossible for me to throw something together in a haphazard way.

In all my work, I try to keep things clean, simple and (if possible) beautiful. Aesthetics ranks way way up there for me, but if something doesn't work (is too complicated, confusing, unclear, obscure, etc.) then it doesn't matter how beautiful it is. If it doesn't get used, then it doesn't work.

Beauty and function are not diametrically opposed concepts as too many architects and engineers believe. When something functions in an excellent way and the design does not hinder, but rather enhances the experience, then you have "form and function" working in harmony.
 
Javascript snippet examples for iWeb

Anybody know a good source of javascript snippet examples that can be used on iWeb sites? I just want to do simple stuff like dynamic text. For example how do you make the text-style of content in a snippet the same as the text in the page it is in?

Bill.
 
Flash video on iWeb?

The February issue of Mac|Life has an article on using Flash video in iWeb sites. They suggest using YouTube as a conduit for such files (uploading, storage, presentation).

I'm wondering if there's a relatively straightforward method of doing the same thing with personal videos that I wouldn't want posted on YouTube. Is there another online site that will do this for me? Is there a conversion program that will turn Quicktime movies to Flash?
 
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